Author: Chalian Meline

KAZAKHSTAN NOT READY TO SPOIL RELATIONS WITH AZERBAIJAN AND TURKEY FOR ARMENIA’S SAKE

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.12.2008 13:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia has nothing to offer Kazakhstan except for
brandy and stone working machines, transportation of which is rather
problematic over the blockade, a Kazakh expert said.

The commodity turnover between Kazakhstan and Armenia, made $5,7
million during January-June 2008 against $199 million between
Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan and $47,8 million between Kazakhstan
and Georgia, Marat Shibutov, member of the Association of Frontier
Cooperation, told PanARMENIAN.Net.

"Kazakhstan can facilitate the Karabakh process. For example, it
doesn’t participate in Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku project. It can
also exert pressure on Azerbaijan. But what for? What can Armenia
offer Kazakhstan except for purchase of uranium for the ANPP? But
it’s not hard to find customers of uranium. So, Armenia is beyond
Kazakhstan’s interests at the moment," he said.

Kazakhstan is not ready to spoil relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey
for Armenia’s sake, according to him.

"The only resource Kazakhstan needs in Armenia is the NPP. If
Azerbaijan holds talks with KazMunayGas, Armenia could negotiate
with Kazatomprom. Serious business can start with a clever move,"
Shibutov said.

"As to Nabucco, Turkmenistan’s gas resources are not
measureless. Construction of Kazakhstan-China pipeline has already
begun. So, Azerbaijan may fail to derive profit from gas transit."

NO CRISIS BITES ARMENIA’S FINANCIAL MARKET: CBA

ARKA
Dec 22, 2008
YEREVAN

Armenia’s financial market has not been crippled by the crisis,
reported Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) Vache
Gabrielyan.

"No ill effects of the crisis have been observed in Armenia,"
Gabrielyan said, adding the signs of strain are far from being
a crisis.

The CBA deputy chairman considered necessary to study specifics of
local economy in order to combat possible influence of the global
crisis on Armenia.

Azad Hye, United Arab Emirates
Dec 19 2008

Zohrab the royal photographer

Azad-Hye Special

From a young man, who used to be a guitar player in a local band, to
Jordan’s King Hussein’s royal photographer, a company and a magazine
owner ¦ meet Zohrab Markerian, a proud Armenian and a proud
Jordanian.

Born in Amman, Jordan, the son of poor Armenian refugees, Zohrab grew
up with his brother and sister in a very humble neighborhood. He lost
his father when he was 12 and had to leave school and find a job to
improve his living conditions. Thanks to his hard work, he was able to
earn a decent living and he succeeded to go up all the way to the
royal palace!

Azad-Hye had the following interview with him:

Can you tell us about the main phases of your life, and how you
reached the royal palace?
I used to play the guitar in a band called `The Believers’. The cream
of the society always came to listen to our band perform songs by the
Beetles. Later, I decided to learn photography like my brother and
together we opened a photographic studio, which, thanks to the support
of our fans, was a success.

One thing led to another, and in 1973 during an exhibition by a
British photographer -held under Queen Alia’s auspices – I suggested
that she allow me to have my own exhibition under her patronage to
show her the country depicted through the eyes of an Armenian-Jordanian.
The answer was yes; It took me months to prepare for it but when I was
ready, she was thrilled and more than supportive. The same year she
announced a competition among Jordanian photographers to present
photos of Jordan. I won, and the prize was to become the King’s Royal
photographer! What great honor!

King Hussein sent me to New York to specialize in photography. I
completed the two-year course successfully and returned with several
prizes and an honor certificate. I accompanied the King in each of his
private and official trips; I traveled around the world taking his
photos. I have even been to the White House five times, whenever the
king went to congratulate a new US president.

What about your relations with the current King Abdullah?
After King Hussein passed away, I kept in touch with king Abdullah,
whom I started to photograph when he was only eight. Like his father,
he is a great man who strives to achieve the best for his country.

I have made seven different photo albums about the King and Jordan
with its tourist attractions which are now presented by the King to
his guests, as souvenirs.

We have seen copies of `I Celebrating Jordan’ magazine. How did it
come to life and what kind of articles does it include?
Along the way I have always dreamed of running my own magazine,
something which became a reality in year 2005.

We naturally write about Jordan, tourism, art and culture. We give a
positive image of the country, and the magazine is distributed in all
five-star-hotels. Besides the mainstream Jordanian topics, we always
include articles and photos about Armenians and Armenia, about
Karabakh and April 24th. I had the opportunity to go to Artsakh
(Karabakh) in 1994 and took photos of the war. At that time, the
Church of Shushi was bombarded and there were tragic scenes
everywhere.

Living all those years in close connection with the royal palace, is
there a particular incident you recall?
I recall an incident when King Hussein and I met with a photographer
from France who turned out to be Armenian as well, but couldn’t speak
Armenian, the King’s comment was: `What good can a man be to his
nation if he doesn’t speak the language!’ Yes, He was a man who taught
me a lot, and whatever I do, I will not be able to compensate for all
that he and his family have done to the Jordanian Armenians in general
and me in particular.

What is your message to Armenians?
Live in harmony with the nation that has welcomed you. Do not hold any
negative attitude towards it, because if you are not good for the
country you live in, then you are good for nothing.

END OF INTRVIEW (Text prepared by Nanor Mikayelian)

Photography in Jordan was not much known in the past, but with the
help of sophisticated people like the Late king Hussein and his son
King Abdullah and some hard work by names like Zohrab and other
Jordanian colleagues, the concept of photography has changed and it
became one of the most appreciated arts in modern times.

—————————————— ———————-

ADDITIONAL READING

Books and Publications by Zohrab:

King and Country 1985
Jordan – Land for All Seasons 1988
Jewels of the Crown 1989
Kingdom of Peace 1995
King Hussein 1999
Dawn of a New Century 2000
Jordan in the Eyes of Saraya 2005
Amman 2007

`I Celebrating Jordan’ Magazine

`I Celebrating Jordan’ magazine announced the launch of its first
issue on 31st of July 2005, at a colorful event held at the Kempenski
Hotel in Amman. The magazine is a unique concept, with content, and
photography that describes and examines the many different facets of
Jordan in a creative and insightful manner. One of the important
features, in this young and state-of-the-art magazine, is the
showcasing of the rich talent of the internally renowned, award
winning photographer Zohrab, portraying through his images, a voyage
of discovery of Jordan – a land filled with history and untapped
potential.

Official website of Zohrab:
Email: [email protected]
To purchase any of the photos featured in the website, please contact
[email protected]

Jordan through the eyes of Zohrab:
Zohrab images available for sale:

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"TRIAL OF SEVEN": TO WHAT EXTENT IS IT POLITICAL?
Armen Tsatouryan

Hayots Ashkharh Daily
18 Dec 2008
Armenia

What if it doesn’t take place?

Over the recent days, everybody has focused on the "Case of 7" which,
as some people persistently claim, is an attempt of persecuting the
political figures carrying on a political struggle.

Based on this hypothesis, 7 individuals charged within the frameworks
of the case (Hakob Hakobyan, Myasnik Malkhasyan, Sasssoun Mikayelyan,
Alexander Arzoumanyan, Grigor Voskerchyan, Souren Sirounyan and
Shant Haroutyunyan) are already characterized by a number of American
diplomats as "political prisoners".

Let’s try to understand to what extent the above-mentioned individuals’
participation in the March 1 disorders fits the definition of the terms
"struggle for political views" and "political prisoner".

Obviously, most of the above-mentioned 7 individuals cannot even be
characterized as "political figures".

If we ignore A. Arzoumanyan and a couple of others, all the rest can
be classified among the commanders of the "fighters" who led the
post-electoral developments into a violent confrontation and bear
direct responsibility for the acts of violence. Furthermore, let’s
bear in mind that even the fact of being a political prisoner does
not safeguard anyone against remaining unpunished for participation
in acts of violence, car arson, attacks and lootings.

A question arises as to what will happen in our country if, after each
election organized on the state level, the representatives of any
political force or individual candidate imitate the scenario of the
"March 1" developments. Next time, we will clearly have 100 and more
vs. 10 victims.

Moreover, it was obvious to everybody that the candidate who suffered
defeat in the elections with his 21 percent of votes did not have a
moral right to dispute the election results. And what will happen
if the difference in the number ranges between 3 or 5 percent, as
characteristic of developed countries? In that case, large crowds of
voters will appear in the streets, and the subsequent acts of violence
will assume larger scales.

In our opinion, the acts for which the above-mentioned seven
individuals are held accountable not only have nothing in common with
the rights deriving from the term "political figure" but are also a
novelty for post-electoral developments in Armenia in terms of both
their volume and organization.

Let’s note that there were also mass rallies and medium-scale clashes
following the 1996 presidential elections. One can only imagine what
would happen if the participants in those events were accompanied
by the body-guards of Myasnik Malkhasyan and Hakob Hakobyan, and
possessed their "arsenal" an d "military experience". The building
of the National Assembly would simply turn into a pile of ashes,
and instead of the couple of MPs beaten by the demonstrators we would
have a lot of dead bodies.

The same can be said in case of drawing comparisons between the "case
of seven" and the "case of 31" and other political trials held in
1995-97, because in the latter case the activity of a whole political
party was prohibited, and the newspapers supporting it were closed.

And what is going on at present? On the one hand, the entire
opposition-run press is busy politicizing the ‘case of seven’ and
on the other hand the authorities and the forces supporting it are
trying to explain to the international community the elementary truth
that the task of punishing the perpetrators of violence is the direct
obligation of the state.

What happened on March 1 was a big dramatized event aimed at
acceding to power through criminally punishable methods. And such
event naturally had its organizers and leaders in the persons
of the individuals charged in the "frameworks of the "Case of
Seven". Therefore, no matter how much the latter may try to push the
political motives of their deeds to the foreground this is not the
reason for which they are going to be convicted.

There is a concrete number of individuals who were killed or injured,
as well as a20lot of materials testifying to the ravages, arsons and
other acts of violence whose perpetrators should be held accountable.

The tragic events of March 1 will maintain the strong effect of a
dangerous precedent unless the acts of violence receive a clear-cut
legal assessment and their organizers and concrete authors are called
to responsibility.

18 U.S. EMBASSIES, 40 U.S. GOVERNORS’ OFFICES MAILED ENVELOPES WITH WHITE POWDER

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.12.2008 13:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The U.S. embassies in Prague and Tokyo have received
envelopes with apparently harmless white powder, bringing the total
number of U.S. missions targeted in the case to 18, officials said
Thursday.

"Eighteen embassies, US embassies have received envelopes containing
white powder. The new ones to the list from (Wednesday) are Prague
and Tokyo," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

The State Department said Wednesday that envelopes with white powder
were mailed to U.S. embassies in Berlin, Berne, Brussels, Bucharest,
Copenhagen, Dublin, Luxembourg, Madrid, Oslo, Paris, Reykjavik, Riga,
Rome, Stockholm, Tallinn and The Hague.

"Thus far the tests, the results that we have received back from
all the affected embassies have come back negative for any sort
of… harmful pathogens or anything harmful," McCormack said.

The U.S. embassy’s consulate building in Bucharest was temporarily
closed to the public Tuesday and reopened the same afternoon, while
the U.S. embassy’s consulate building in Rome was closed Wednesday
and Thursday, McCormack said. "I expect that (the consulate in Rome)
will reopen for regular business soon," he added.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is conducting the
investigation into the mailings, said that similar envelopes with white
powder were also received at more than 40 U.S. governors’ offices.

The contents initially tested negative, but more tests were planned,
it said.

The FBI’s Dallas office said the letters were all similar, post-marked
from Texas, with the earliest sent on December 8.

The FBI said on December 10 that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin,
the former Republican vice presidential candidate, and seven other
U.S. governors had received letters with a suspicious white powder.

It said the letters were also sent to governors’ offices in Rhode
Island, Michigan, Mississippi, Alabama, Minnesota, Montana, and
Missouri.

"Sending a hoax letter is serious and can have severe
consequences. This is a great drain on each city’s response teams,"
according to the FBI statement on Wednesday.

In 2001 letters containing anthrax killed five people and spread
panic. Since then, police and fire officers have been called out to
investigate suspicious mailings across the country – most of them
harmless, the AP reports.

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA TO PARTAKE IN THE NON-OFFICIAL SUMMIT OF CSTO HEADS OF STATE

armradio.am
18.12.2008 17:25

The President of the Republic of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, will leave
for Kazakhstan on December 19 to participate in the non-official
summit of the Heads of State of the member countries of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization, President’s Press Office reported.

TURKISH SOCIETY MORE INDEPENDENT THAN ARMENIAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.12.2008 16:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The online campaign of apology for the Armenian
Genocide proves that the Turkish society is more independent than
Armenian, according to an expert.

"This petition, which has been already signed by over 5000 people,
showed that Turks go ahead of the formal political line," Alexander
Iskandaryan, director of Caucasus Institute, told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter.

"Such statements were inconceivable several years ago. Presently,
internal processes in Turkey called forth this move," he said.

NKR PRESIDENT MET PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE…

Azat Artsakh Daily
16 Dec 08
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR

On 15 December NKR President Bako Sahakyan met personal representative
of the OSCE chairman-in-office Andrzej Kasprzyk Issues related
to the current situation in the region, Nagorno Karabagh conflict
settlement process and the planned monitoring of the line of contact
between Nagorno Karabagh and Azerbaijan armed forces were discussed
at the meeting.

MOSCOW: SKINHEAD GANG LEADERS SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.12.2008 17:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Moscow city court has announced the verdict of
guilty for the leaders of a gang of skinheads Arthur Ryno and Pavel
Skachevsky, for the murders committed through national hatred, and
sentenced them to 10 years in prison.

The other criminals in the dock will spend from 6 to 20 years in
prison, depending on age and degree of complicity.

The gang was found guilty of 32 assaults on people of non-Slavonic
nationality.

WITHOUT ANY COQUETRY

Hayots Ashkharh Daily
12 Dec 2008
Armenia

`In my view it is high time for the Armenian authorities to voice,
without any coquetry, that by enormous armaments, that surpasses all
the quotes envisaged by the Treaty on the Ordinary Armaments in Europe,
Azerbaijan is a real threat not only for Karabakh but also the
stability of the whole region. All those countries that supply arms to
Azerbaijan must realize that they commit themselves to the
responsibility of the destabilization in the region,’ Khosrov
Harutyunyan believes.